Thought I saw on of those used on the feature attraction in Tijuana while in the military.. looks like the smaller version..anyone familiar with the Turkey Cannon? i just happen to stumble across this on the net. was thinking maybe just another gimmick, but, also thought anytime you can add some moisture to the bird---maybe not a bad thing. then again, brining enough? been reading about "spatchcocking" a turkey. almost every video i have seen state, "try this method and you'll never go back to the old basic method". something i hope to try in the near future.
Me too. My daughter got me one of those 'Slow and Sear' things for my Weber kettle and I'm anxious to use it. Might try some ribs tomorrow if the weather is good.
The Turkey Cannon does work but you really don't need one if you have a quality grill that you can set up for indirect grilling. If you can set your grill up for indirect cooking (and can hold a steady temperature) you can just set it on the grill or spatchcock it.
Here's an example of Spatchcock Chicken
Spatchcocking is a popular way to grill a whole chicken (or Turkey) that ensures fast and even cooking. First I brine my bird a minimum of 4 hours. (8 is better).
Brine Recipe: (This is for a chicken. Not for Turkey)
1 Gal Water
1/2 Cup Kosher Salt
1 ½ Tbsp. Minced Garlic
1 Tsp. Thyme
1 Tsp. Crushed Basil
1 Tsp. Crushed Rosemary
1 Tsp. Ground Black Pepper
1/8 Cup Worcestershire Sauce
1/6 Cup Brown Sugar
After brining place the bird on a cutting board and pat it dry with paper towels. (Do this by the sink as the bird will be juicy)
Now use some kitchen shears to cut out the spine / backbone.
Spread out the now free back / thigh portions and sprinkle on some seasoning / rub.
Turn it over, skin side up, with a little olive oil and season the top side.
Now place the bird on the grill and cook it indirect at approximately 400 degrees until the breasts have an internal temperature of 165% and the thighs are approximately 180.
Waiting
Done. (After 70 minutes breast & thigh IT was 180. I may have been able to pull it a little earlier)
The end results are easy to cut up and delicious.
The only problem with spatchcocking is how do display the bird if you do your turkey this way. I'll post a Whole Turkey cook next.
That’s it, I’m coming to your house next time you make turkey!Smoked / Grilled Turkey
I started dinner prepping on Wednesday morning by making up the brine. Basically this is Alton Brown’s Brine with a few tweaks.
Ingredients:
1 gal. Vegetable stock.
1 cup salt
½ cup brown sugar
1 tbsp. Peppercorns
1 ½ tsp. allspice
1 ½ tsp. ginger
8 cloves
2 Bay leaves
Peel from 1 orange
Combine and then bring to a boil stirring occasionally. Here it is cooking.
Then remove and cool to room temp and then chill in fridge. After it chilled I then place a food safe 4 gal bucket into an ice chest and surround it with ice.
I put the thawed and cleaned Turkey into the food safe bucket and pour the brine over it.
Now cover completely with ice and then add just enough water to have the bird in liquid. Now place the lid on it and let it rest overnight. (I usually leave it outside as the nights are cool to cold but not freezing out in SoCal)
Thursday Morning starts out with making up some seasoned butter rub.
Ingredients: 1 ¼ sticks of butter2 tbsp. Montreal Chicken seasoning½ tsp. Sage powder½ tsp. Rosemary flakes
Also some aromatic items to place inside the bird. (Tweaked from last year)
Ingredients: 1 Apple sliced into 1/8th’s ½ sliced onion1 Cinnamon stick4 sprigs of fresh Rosemary (from my garden)6 sprigs of fresh Thyme (from my garden)3 sprigs of fresh Sage (from my garden)2 sprigs of fresh Oregano (from my garden)
Now take the turkey out of the brine and place it on a prep tray. Carefully pull the skin up and side your fingers and then you hand up under the skin to create some pockets for the seasoned butter. Take a spatula and slide some of the seasoned butter in under the skin on the breasts. Now replace the skin (you may need a few toothpicks to secure it) and slather on the rest of the rub on the outside of the bird. Now insert the aromatic items inside the bird. These will not only add some great flavor but ensure that the meat is moist. Here’s what it looks like waiting to go on the kamado.
Light up the kamado and let it heat up to 250 and then put the turkey on. (This lets the bird absorb some smoke) Here it is on the kamado.
Now ramp up the temp to 500 for 30 minutes. (To crisp up the skin) Then ramp down the temp to 325 to 350 to finish off the cook. (Mine took an additional 2 hours for the breast temp to reach 164) Here’s the results.
My wife made up the table.
Everything on the table waiting for everyone to sit down and eat.
Money Shot.
It is DELICIOUS!
Thanks for looking.
How long do you get from a load of charcoal? Brisket takes a long time so I'm just wondering how long before you need to add more charcoal.
